Once Upon A Time – May 8 – 1945 – V-E Day: World War II Ends In Europe After Germany Signs Unconditional Surrender

1660 English parliament declares Charles Stuart to be King Charles II of England

1835 1st installment of Hans Christian Andersen “Fairy Tales” published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark

1895 China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki

1902 Mount Pelée on the French overseas island of Martinique erupts, wiping out the city of Saint-Pierre, killing 30,000 and leaving only two survivors

1945 V-E Day: World War II ends in Europe after Germany signs an unconditional surrender

1980 World Health Organization announces smallpox has been eradicated

2007 A new Northern Ireland Executive is formed with Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party) as First Minister and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) as Deputy First Minister

Historical Events Today
Today in Film & TV
1958 Classic Hammer horror film “Dracula” film starring Christopher Lee as the eponymous vampire alongside Peter Cushing, directed by Terence Fisher released

Today in Music
1979 The Cure release their debut album “Three Imaginary Boys” (Boys Don’t Cry in US, Australia)

Today in Sport
1984 The Soviet Union announces it will not participate in Los Angeles Summer Olympics in retaliation for the American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics

1886
Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta sells the first Coca-Cola (contained cocaine)

1993
16 year old Keron Thomas disguises himself as a motorman & takes NYC subway train and 2,000 passengers on a 3 hour ride